At its last meeting with him, an appreciative City Council honored O’Rourke with a proclamation and declared the day “Kevin O’Rourke Day,” according to the O.C. Register. As it turns out, O’Rourke made a mint working as a temp City Manager in Santa Ana.

How much did it cost Santa Ana to get rid of former City Manager Paul Walters? Over one million dollars. That is the tip of the icerberg. Check out the huge sums of money our City Council has blown over the past few years: Continue reading→

Can you believe it? Our city is broke but on August 28, 2013, “officials from Santa Ana conducted a one-day site visit to learn more about the highly successful transit and streetcar system in Portland, Oregon.”

That’s right. We paid to send a bunch of Council Members and city staffers to Portland, Oregon, to look at their light rail system. Now why in the world would our city leaders do this? Well, they allege that “Out of the 15 systems currently operating and the 40 under design or construction throughout the country, Portland’s has been seen as a model that reflects the Transit Vision for Santa Ana’s proposed streetcar system.”

But is that true? Does Portland really have anything in common with Santa Ana? Continue reading→

The Santa Ana City Council Monday passed what could be called its first post-crisis budget, adopting a two-year spending plan that beefs up reserves, potentially restores furlough hours to city employees and provides small increases to the police and code enforcement budgets, according to the Voice of OC.

The Voice of OC’s Santa Ana reporter, Adam Elmahrek, wrote that the SAPD is reorganizing in the wake of the departure of former Santa Ana police chief Paul Walters, who was fired by our City Council for no good reason earlier this year. But while Elmahrek tried to make it look like Walters wasted money on the SAPD in the past, he also had to admit that it was due to Walters that we have a budget at all this year – “This year, thanks in large part to the decision to outsource the city’s fire protection, the city is working with a reserve of between $27 and $30 million.” Continue reading→

Santa Ana Deputy City Manager Jill Arthur was placed on administrative leave this week pending a city-commissioned investigation into allegations that she engaged in misconduct following a traffic accident, according to the Voice of OC.

The Voice of OC reported that “According to sources familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity, Arthur was involved in a car accident with Marcel Alvarez, a 22-year-old Buena Park resident. Rather than exchange insurance information, Arthur offered to get Alvarez a job by leveraging her influence at the Santa Ana Work Center, a city office that assists residents in finding employment, sources said.” Continue reading→

SANTA ANA, CA – (April 18, 2013) – Under City Council direction, Santa Ana Interim City Manager Kevin O’Rourke has arranged two separate community input meetings so residents can voice their expectations to City Council members regarding the City Manager recruitment and selection process.

Take advantage of this important phase and let your voice be heard. The meetings are scheduled as follows: Continue reading→

Norberto was blowing a gasket about the mess in Santa Ana, and admitted that his friends on the City Council are to blame for wasting time going after Paul Walters, our former City Manager. He explains that this is why they blew their own deadline regarding the city budget deliberations. Continue reading→

Community Alert: Santa Ana City Council Seeks Public Input In Nationwide City Manager Recruitment

SANTA ANA, CA – (April 2, 2013) – The Santa Ana Interim City Manager Kevin O’Rourke has initiated the recruitment process for a new City Manager by entering into an agreement with Bob Murray & Associates. City Council members are interested in obtaining feedback from the community to guide the recruitment and selection strategies. Continue reading→

There is so much going on today in Santa Ana that I chose to report it all in our infamous Political Chismes format, rather than post several articles. Here we go!

Bad news for Busty. Today was a bad day for former Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante, as a “judge refused to dismiss a number of felony sex crime charges against him,” according to the O.C. Register. Bustamante is accused of sexually assaulting seven women he worked with in his former job in the county’s Public Works Department. The judge also denied a motion to have the Orange County District Attorney’s Office taken off the case. Bustamante worked to elect his former colleague, David Benavides, in last year’s Santa Ana Mayoral race. Luckily Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido prevailed. Will Benavides commisserate with Bustamante tonight? Stop by Chapter One, in Downtown Santa Ana, and see if they show up. Be sure to send us any pictures you get of these two tossing them down! Continue reading→

” The City of Santa Ana will pay out more than $700,000 under the severance agreement struck with former city manager Paul M. Walters,” according to the O.C. Register.

The Voice of OC asked Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero if the council majority miscalculated? “A miscalculation is the car’s running at 50 miles per hour and you think you can get across before you get hit,” Tinajero said. “But if the car speeds to 110 miles per hour, that’s not a miscalculation, someone just changed the rules on you.” Continue reading→

“The cost of the severance agreement with former Santa Ana City Manager Paul Walters will be “above $400,000,” according to Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero, as reported by the O.C. Register.

The L.A. Times reported that “Santa Ana city leaders have also agreed to name the city’s police building in honor of Walters” – a fitting tribute to a public servant who toiled on our behalf for 42 years. Continue reading→

Kevin O’Rourke, a retired government executive with two decades of experience in Orange County was appointed Monday by the City Council as Santa Ana’s interim city manager,” according to the O.C. Register.

O’Rourke has made a career of serving as both an interim and permanent city manager, with stops in Buena Park, Stanton and Stockton, which filed for municipal bankruptcy last year. Stanton seems to be headed for the same result too. He last temped in Woodland, according to a media report, in 2011. And surprise! He temped in the City of Bell too. Continue reading→

“Santa Ana city leaders apparently reached consensus Monday on appointing an interim city manager to fill the slot left open by the firing of City Manager Paul Walters,” according to the Voice of OC.

Council members emerged from their closed session just after 7 p.m. and announced a decision, but said they couldn’t disclose the candidate’s name yet because they were still negotiating terms. Then Councilwoman Michelle Martinez said the new interim city manager’s name would be made public in about a week.

So much drama when there is a darn good chance that the interim city manager will be Gerardo Mouet, the Santa Ana Parks and Rec Agency director. Scratch that. Apparently former Buena Park/Stanton City Manager Kevin O’Rourke might become Santa Ana’s highest paid temp, I mean interim City Manager. He currently works as a consultant who specializes in figuring out how to pay for retired public employees’ pensions, according to this link. He was previously an interim City Manager in now bankrupt Stockton. Continue reading→